Wriddhiman Saha, the Gujarat Titans (GT) wicket-keeper batsman, has been a crucial part of their squad over their last 2 seasons with his batting in the powerplay part of the innings. Last season, the 38-year-old from West Bengal scored 3187 runs at an average of 31.70, helping GT win the title in their debut season.
The wicket-keeper batsman, has struggled with the bat this season, averaging 16.78 with a strike rate of 123.77 in 9 matches
Wriddhiman Saha has also represented India in 40 Test matches and played a few important knows in desperate situations, as seen by his three hundred while batting at no. 6 or no. 7.
Despite being a key contributor with the bat for both his franchise and the national team over the years, Saha’s rise to popularity has been largely due to his outstanding wicket-keeping abilities. Over the last decade, he has been arguably the best wicket-keeper in the country, with many sensational diving catches and brilliant reflexes displayed when wicket-keeping to spin bowling.
Saha’s wicket-keeping abilities have been praised by professionals and fans alike, due to his dexterity and agility. He has 92 catches and 12 stumpings in his Test match career and 108 dismissals in 153 IPL matches
With said, let’s take a look at Wriddhiman Saha’s three finest IPL catches.
1) Wriddhiman Saha’s high catch against RCB in IPL 2017
Wriddhiman Saha played for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in 2017 and had one of the season’s top high catches against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Holkar Stadium in Indore.
Saha’s athleticism was on full show as he kept his eyes on the ball despite it flying sky-high and twirling in the air, diving in just enough time to complete the catch.
His dismissal of Mandeep Singh off Varun Aaron’s bowling ended a 46-run partnership between him and AB de Villiers and helped restrict RCB to a poor total of 148-4 in 20 overs.
Wriddhiman Saha was a member of the PBKS team from 2014 to 2017 and was important in the team reaching the final in 2014, including an outstanding century against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
2) Wriddhiman Saha’s reflex catch against CSK in IPL 2023
Wriddhiman Saha of the Gujarat Titans (GT) pulled a fantastic reflex catch off Rashid Khan’s bowling to eliminate English all-rounder Ben Stokes in the opening match of the season against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Ahmedabad on March 31.
The catch was made harder by Rashid’s skinny delivery and a heavy outside edge off Stokes’ bat, which resulted in a big deflection. Saha showed excellent reactions and rapid hand movement to hang on to the catch.
The dismissal occurred at a critical point in the game, when CSK were leading 70-2 in the eighth over, and it helped limit them to 178-7 in 20 overs.
3) Wriddhiman Saha’s diving catch against DC in IPL 2023
Gujarat Titans (GT) wicket-keeper Wirddhiman Saha’s most recent acrobatic performance happened on May 3 against the Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
GT seamer Mohammed Shami was in the middle of a great period when he produced the outside edge off DC batsman Manish Pandey, which Saha dove at full stretch to his right to pull off one of the season’s most significant catches.
At 38 years old, Saha showed incredible agility and flexibility by diving full length and holding on to the catch. Shami’s third wicket came as a result of Saha’s brilliance, which helped reduce DC to 22-4.
Despite Saha’s heroics, the Titans were unable to match DC’s score of 130 and fell short by five runs.
